Byzantine Cyprus, 491-1191

656 Pages·2009·43.611 MB·English

by  David Michael Metcalf

BYZANTINE CYPRUS
491-1191
CYPR S RESE RCH CE TTRE
TEXTS A D ST DIES I T THE HISTORY OF CYPR S
- LXII -
BYZANTINE CYPRUS
491-1191
D. M.METCALF
NICOSIA
2009
Copyright© by the Cyprus Research Centre 2009
ISBN 978-9963-0-8115-8
Printed in Cyprus
by THEOPRESS LTD, NICOSIA
on behalf of the Cyprus Research Centre
PO.Box 21952, 1515 Nicosia - Cyprus
•.· '\ if: Ii .·
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/ .;:·
CONTENTS
Foreword
. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7
Acknmvleclgements
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 27
A note on the spelling of names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
INTRODUCTION
I. The three ages of Byzantine Cyprus: great prosperity;
swift decline and impoverishment; gradual recovery . . . 31
The scale of the catastrophe
1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The dilemma created by extreme contrast
2. . . . . . . . . 41
3. The springs of renewal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Quantified perspectives are unattainable.
4. . . . . . . . . 46
Summing-up. . .
5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ·. . . . . 49
Appendix: Conspicuous wealth in sixth and
seventh-century Cyprus. The Lambousa treasures,
including the David plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
The regional geography of Byzantine Cyprus . .. . . . . . .
II. 61
1. The regions and their productive potential . . . . . . . 63
2. Field surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3. Village fairs .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
PART 1. STRANDS OF EVIDENCE
Changing hierarchies of provincial government:
III.
the sigillographic evidence . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 69
1. General principles of interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 70
2. The sixth and seventh centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
8 CONTENTS
3. The first third of the eighth century: from the
genitive to the dative case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4. From c.730 to 8 67 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 9
5. From 867 to c.1040. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6. Fromc.1040 toc.1118 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
7. The twelfth century . . . . . . . . . .� . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
8. Summing-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 13
Appendix: Work in progress: how new discoveries
of lead seals can sharpen the focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 15
IV. Trends and local variations in the money supply:
theinumismatic evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
1. The excavation-material from Salamis-Constantia,
491-1191 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
2. The excavation-material from Kourion, 491-1191 155
3. Excavation material from Paphos and the coast
northwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
4. Regional variation: coins of the Alexandria mint . . . 159
5. The Heraclian revolt, 608-610 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
6. The Cyprus mint in 626 /7 - 628 /9 . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . 163
7. NEA, a temporary Byzantine mint in 634-6 . . . . . . . . 164
8. Gold hoards from the mid-seventh century: the flight
from Egypt, 641 /2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 64
:,
9. The INPER CONST coinage from the early 640 s . . . 1 64
10. Silver and copper coinage lost because of the Arab
invasions (649 and 653) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
11. Countermarking of the folles of Constans II . . . . . . . 171
12. Arab-Byzantine fulus imitating the folles
of Constans II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
13. The transfer to Nea Ioustinianoupolis, 691- c. 699 . . . 176
14. Islamic copper fulus in eighth-century Cyprus . . . . . 177
15. The late eighth and ninth centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
�
16. The tenth century (to 965) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
17. The eleventh-century recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
18. Governmental spending in Cyprus from the mid
twelfth century to 1184 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
_.
19. The coinage of Isaac Comnenus, 1184-1191 . . . . . . . 185
CONTENTS 9
20. Summing-up: 'i ariable density of the e'i idence,
and short- and long-term trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6
Apjmidix:
a check-list of hoards and major site find
from Cyprus ... . . ... . .. .... . . .............. . . .. 189
V. Public inscriptions and their context : the epigraphic
evidence . .... . . .. . . . . . .. . . . ..... . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . 215
1. mo aic from Kourion . .. . . . .... ..... . . ... . . . 217
2. group of inscriptions from Constantia . .... . . . . 217
3. An imperial rescript from K) threa . . . . . . . ...... . 219
4. The arches of Constantia's aqueduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
5. The Soloi inscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
6. An inscription recording the repair of the city
·walls of Lapithos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
7. An Islamic tombstone from Paphos . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
8. The painted inscription at Kanakaria . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
9. The painted inscription at Syngrasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
10. The painted inscription in Holy Trinity church,
Koutsobendes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
11. Anno nnmdi datings in the twelfth century . . . . . . . . 227
12. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
trading partners in the Mediterranean
VI. The province's
world: the ceramic evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
1. The import and export of amphoras
and other wares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
2. Chronologies at particular sites. The aftermath
of the Arab raids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
3. Domestic ·wares: the needful range of crockery
for a household . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
4. The eighth and ninth centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
5. General implications for the Cyprus economy . . . . . 244
6. Late eleventh- and twelfth- century wares . . . . . . . 245
'
Appendix: Glass: the historian s eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Styles of church architecture: changing fashions
VII.
in the building of churches and monasteries . . . . . . . . . . 253
10 CONTENTS
1. Stone drums, granite columns, marble columns . . . . 2 60
2. Village churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 61
3. Opus sectile floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 62
4. Destruction by Mu'awiya, or earthquake damage?
Church building and repair in the 'dark age' . . . . . . 2 65
5. Landscape with domes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 66
6 . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 68
VIII. 'The trowel cannot lie': ambiguities in the interpretation
of urban archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 69
1.1· Retrenchment after the Arab raids:
a general theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
2. Ayios Philon (Karpasia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
3. Salamis-Constantia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6
4. The topography of Nea Paphos and its
interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
5. Amathus, before and after the mid-seventh century . 288
6 . Kourion and Paphos, after another earthquake or two . 292
Appendix: A glimpse of rural life in the sixth and
seventh centuries: Alassa-Ayia Mavri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
IX. Expressions of faithfulness: religious mentalities and
the sense of Cypriot identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
1. Autonomy from Antioch: the apostolic Church
of St Barnabas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
2. The holy waters of Salamis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
3. Floor and mural mosaics, and a seventh-
century apologia for the veneration of images . . . . . 313
4. An amulet from seventh-century Amathus . . . . . . . 317
5. Old men remember the miracles of their youth . . . . 318
6 . Relics and miracles, in an impoverished age . . . . . . 318
7. Relics, miracles, and the cult of Cypriot bishops
in an age of renewal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
8. Aristocratic and imperial support for prestigious
monasteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
. ·.
CONTENT 1 1
ApjJendix: literacy
and sacred learning. Greek
manuscript from Cyprus to the ear 1 191 . . . . . . . . . 329
PART 2. THE CHA rcn. G FABRIC OF SOCIETY
X. From 491 to 610 337
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. o late Roman C; prus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
The legaq f
2. of th C; 3:)1
Antecedents e Church of prus . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. church state . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Dual governance, by and
4. Taxation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
5. Kourion, after the earthquake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
6. Growing prosperity by the time of Justinian 362
7. Constantia, and the pilgrimage church of
Campanopetra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
8. Economic decline in western Cyprus, from
the mid-sixth century? The regional influence
of Paphos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
9. Famine, pestilence, depopulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
10. Cyprus and the coup d'etat of Heraclius . . . . . . . . . . . 375
1 1. Summing-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
XI. From 610 to 688 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
1. A Persian attack on Constantia, in 617? . . . . . . . . . . 383
'
2. Constantia s aqueduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
3. Monasticism before the Arab invasion 387
4. Distant thunder? Monophysitism and
monotheletism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
5. Two Arab invasions of Cyprus and their
aftermath: a critique of the sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
6. Life at Constantia after 650 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
7. Summing-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
XII. From 688 to 965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
1. The foreign news: 'Cyprus attacked again' . . . . . . . . 434
2. The limited impact of iconoclasm on Cyprus . . . . . 441
12 CONTENTS
3. Internal evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7
4. Nea Ioustinianoupolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
5. Relocation: the case of Kourion; and the
analogy of Paphos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
6. The changing hierarchy of civil government . . . . . . 460
7. Lapithos, Ky renia, and Polis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468
8. Isolated pockets of prosperity? The Karpas
peninsula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 72
9. The shift to settlements at higher levels? . . . . . . . . . 474
1 Q.' How pervasive was the Arab presence
in Cyprus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 78
11. The clefe nce of the north: Maronite and
Armenian villages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
12. The migration of the cities, and the afterlife
of their sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
13. Lives spent in one village: rootedness . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
14. Summing-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
XIII. From 965 to c.1094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
1. 'Sent out to govern' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
2. The revolt of Bardas Skleros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
3. The Book of Curiosities: a map of the ports
of Cyprus from before 1050 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
4. The early history of Nicosia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
5. Political aspects of the founding and growth of
monasteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
6. Provincial separatism: the coup of Rhapsomates . . . . 521
7. Summing-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
XIV. From c.1094 to 1191. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
1. The castles of St Hilarion, Buff avento, and Kantara 537
2. Nicholas Mouzalon, Eumathios Philokales, and
Koutsobendes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., . . . . 539
3. Venetians settled in Paphos, Limassol, and Nicosia . 544
CONTENT 13
4. S p l s St
u p ie sent to the laura of Theodo ius the
cenobiarch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -±6
5. 'The
rightful judgement of God': foreign raid and
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-±9
natural disasters
6.
griculture: elf -sufficiency; the internal market;
.
exports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ::>52
arangians C) p
7. in ru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ::> ::> ::>
8. . . . . . . . . . . . . ::>::>5
The early development of Famagusta
9. Isaac, emperor in C) p u . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ::>58
r s
10. Isaac's reign in retrospect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ::>63
11. S mm n up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
u i g-
CO CLUSIO S
XV. The provincial self-sufficiency and the
balance-sheet:
by central government . . . . . . . . 567
effects of interventions
1. The province in its time of prosperity . . . . . . . . . . . 571
2. and faltering recovery, but city life decays . 573
Defeat,
3. Imperial impotence or neglect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
Cyprus shares its skills and its prosperity
4.
with others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
5. Venice: sanctioned encroachment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
XVI. Conclusion, and some remarks on future research. . . . . . 579
1. The challenge of conflicting evidence . . . . . . . . . . . 582
2. Lead seals, coins, and urban archaeology . . . . . . . . . 586
3. Blood groups, DNA, and historical demography . . . 590
Select bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
General index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629